For years, Final Fantasy XIV has been hosting these fireside chats for the game called "Letter from the Producer Live."
They're such a big deal that I've actually watched them in a room with other XIV players like they were an E3 presentation: it's generally where most of the bigger news breaks for the game. As the team prepares to deliver patch 5.4 (which has a date of December 8), news is indeed coming out of today's stream, recapped on Twitter. So let's start breaking down some of the bigger things patch 5.4 is going to offer, from the vague to the precise.
As is customary job changes are coming, with big alterations for the Monk on the docket. Triple Triad is also getting a substantial update, which the Twitter account jokes is the "true endgame" (haha, kind of true for some people). The new Eden's Promise raid (the last hardcore wing of the expansion) seems to have Final Fantasy VIII music, and the upcoming Unreal Trial is confirmed to be Titan. A tougher Titan fight has been rumored for a long while now, so this should be a welcome surprise for older players who witnessed countless party members fall off that cliff. The Ishgardian Restoration process will also hit its "final phase" in patch 5.4.
Perhaps most importantly for casual fans though is the new "explorer mode" mechanic, which was teased prior but shown off today in all its glory. Explorer mode allows you to basically roam free and hang out in certain areas (previously completed dungeons, including Shadowbringers ones for now, with "more to be added in the future"), with a focus on taking cool pictures like limit break poses: the sort of thing you can't really do in the heat of a big raid battle. Under the guise of the explorer demo, new minions were also shown off.
It's a lot! But then again, it's a Final Fantasy XIV patch.
Final Fantasy XIV [Twitter]
